Sure...I'll try. I'm hyper-vigilant. I know this. There are aspects of this character trait that I positively cherish for good reason. I would make an excellent scout and spend lots of time in the woods. Hear slight noise, see the first signs of seasonal changes, detect nuanes in terrain, animal behaviors, all of the "noticing" that comes with being a perceptive person. It blows my mind, actually, when I notice that other people don't spend much time....noticing.

The downside is that of course, I'm not correct when it comes to people's emotions, beliefs, behavior....any more often than others might be correct...even though I have my head on a swivel, I certainly can't read peoples' minds (nor do I want to do so! Yikes!). But I am often accused of "reading things into" situations and detecting nuances that...well, just aren't there when it comes to other people! I jump to conclusions a lot...in therapy and elsewhere... Being "very sensitive" is great, but sometimes has its downsides. I was brought up in a volatile, dangerous, brutal household, and was eternally scoping things out, watching the winds, worrying when it was going to blow. I guess my hypervigilance is a hallmark of growing up in a situation of brutality (I think abuse is too tepid a word).

therefore, I'm a huge pain in the *** in therapy. This is the aspect of my difficult T experience that is hard for me to own. Being afraid of my T and watchful, hypervigilant to signs of his frequent annoyance, disapproval and lack of positive regard --all of that sux. I am exquisitely sensitive to body language, which means I work well with animals. I have trained quite a few horses.... And I have the nerve to tell my Ts when their body language intimidates me. My candor doesn't always go over very well. Lately, I'm thinking, well, too bad. better you should KNOW

Being hypervigilant means you are sometimes able to see problems at a fairly early stage...and vigilance, of course, can even have a protective quality (see The Gift of Fear, a book about this)...but at its worst, it keeps me at a distance from others. Sometimes people interpret this as shyness and when they do, I think, oh, how charitable of you. If only you knew.....